“Potjiekos” is a traditional Afrikaner dish hailing from South Africa. It originated with the Voortrekkers in the 1800’s and is still widely prepared and enjoyed in South Africa today. It is a simple dish, easy to prepare, with few ‘rules’  but hundreds of variants. When done properly a “potjie” needs little to no supervision and practically prepares itself. It thus allows you time to enjoy the company of your friends and family while preparing the meal. “Potjiekos”, translated would mean ‘Little Pot’ (potjie) ‘Food’ (kos) and although it resembles a stew it is not a stew and is not prepared like a stew.

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Nothing is more traditionally South African than a potjie and good company. Get those coals blazing, gather your friends and let’s get this party stirring.

Here are 7 ways to satisfy your hunger:

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Without wasting any time, we turned to an expert and asked Jenny Morris for her potjiekos secrets. And here they are, short and sweet.

• It’s vital that the pot isn’t too big for the volume of ingredients. Heating a large pot to make a small potjie will take ages and turn everything into a mush.
• Use hard wood to make two fires. Yes, you read right: the potjie fire has to keep going for hours and you need the wood from the second fire to feed it.
• First pour some oil into the bottom of the pot, then the onions and meat. Brown it slowly and then stir in the garlic. Add a little stock or wine and braise the meat until it’s three quarters done. Then add the vegetables, layering them from hard to soft, for example carrots, potatoes, pumpkin, cauliflower and broccoli. Mushrooms and courgettes should be added right at the end, about 20 minutes before the potjie will be done.
• Never use frozen vegetables.
• Cover the pot after adding the vegetables and spices and do not stir.
• Always check that the stock is enough to cover the ingredients but not so much that they are swimming in liquid. When adding stock, pour it down the side of the potjie, not on top.

Tip: If you’re worried about overcooking the vegetables, make a veg-less potjie like this beer potjie and serve the vegetables on the side.

In addition to recommending that you always use the best ingredients possible, our butcher has a few other pointers too.

• Don’t add too much liquid at the start. Vegetables are 80% water so wait until they have begun cooking before adding more stock.
• A potjie takes a long time. If you’re using meat cuts like oxtail that take longer to cook, wait an hour before adding the vegetables.

How long is long?
Oxtail and ostrich neck: 3 – 4 hours
Venison and mutton: 2 ½ hours
Lamb and pork: 2 – 2 ½ hours
Chicken: 1 – 1 ½ hours
Seafood: 40 minutes – 1 hour

Source: Checkers

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Thanks to your support, Potjiekos World is now the second most popular South African food blog on MyTaste. Check it out here.

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This potjie was amazing! I bought my potjie pot 2 weeks ago and decided to do this recipe for it’s initiation. This was the first ever potjie I made and it turned out BRILLIANT! I used cream of chicken soup and oxtail soup, and my dog stole the bacon when I wasn’t looking but it still turned out amazing! My girlfriend and her family loved it and went for seconds! – Clinton

Potjie No: 3 Pot guide
Serves: 4 – 6
Cooking Time: 1.5 hours
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Ingredients

6 chicken breasts
250g rindless bacon, cubed
10 baby potatoes, peeled
12 baby onions, peeled
750ml frozen mixed vegetables
4 medium onions, diced
300g mushrooms, sliced
60ml smooth apricot jam
Cooking oil
100ml water
15ml worcester sauce
500ml fresh cream or 250ml Cream + 250ml milk
Chicken spice to taste
Aromat to taste
1 packet of oxtail soup
1 packet of onion soup

Method

• Spice the chicken with the chicken spice.
• Heat the oil in the pot and braai the bacon for about 5 minutes.
• Add the onions and apricot jam and braai until soft.
• Now add the chicken, water and worcester sauce, cover with the lid and allow it to simmer for about 15 minutes.
• Add the onions and potatoes and allow the pot to simmer for a further 10 minutes.
• Next add the veggies and the mushrooms.
• Sprinkle a little Aromat over the pot, cover with the lid and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.
• Mix the soup powder with the cream and add it to the pot. Cover and allow it to simmer for a final 30 minutes.

The post Chicken Cream Sauce Potjie first appeared on Potjiekosworld.

Made this yesterday. Amazing recipe! Made it a little spicier by doubling the ginger and garlic, and added 2 fresh chili’s. Also made it using Kabeljou(layer 1), Prawns(Layer 2) and Crab(Layer 3)- Pritesh

Potjie No: 3 Pot guide
Serves: 6 – 8
Cooking Time: 1.5 hours
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Ingredients

15 ml brown sugar
15 ml sweet soy sauce
30 ml fresh basil, roughly chopped
30 ml fresh parsley, roughly chopped
1 kg fresh white fish, filleted, or frozen hake steaks
500 g fresh or frozen prawns, shelled and cleaned
1 kg frozen marinara mix
2 lemons (juice only)
250 ml thick cream
10 mussels in their shells
20 ml olive oil
30 ml butter
2 large onions
10 ml garlic, crushed
10 ml ginger, freshly, grated
20 ml seafood spices
250 g fresh black mushrooms, sliced
410 g Mexican tomatoes
375 ml fish stock
125 ml sherry

Method

• In a large potjie, heat together the oil and butter.
• Add the onions, garlic, ginger and seafood spices and fry for 2 minutes.
• Add the mushrooms, tomatoes, fish stock, sherry, sugar and soy sauce and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes.
• Add the basil and half the parsley, then remove three quarters of this mixture from the pot and layer it, alternating with the seafood.
• Start with the white fish, then the prawns, then the marinara mix.
• Add the lemon juice, secure the lid and allow to simmer for 20 to 30 minutes without stirring.
• Just before serving, add the cream, mussels and the remaining parsley and heat through for about 5 minutes.
• Serve with white rice and a green salad.

The post Spicy Seafood Potjie first appeared on Potjiekosworld.

Potjie No: 4 Pot guide
Serves: 6 – 8
Cooking Time: 1.5 hours
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Ingredients

2 tbsp butter
8 medium shallots, whole peeled
5 whole garlic cloves, crushed
300 grams streaky bacon, cut thick
Sprig of fresh thyme
500 grams button mushrooms, whole
4 carrots peeled and cut into thick slices
2 cups good Bourgogne red wine (Pinot Noir)
2 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
8 pieces chicken on the bone
Parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

• Heat Potjie.
• Add butter and bacon.
• Brown bacon on medium heat until brown.
• Remove bacon and set aside.
• Keep bacon fat in Potjie.
• Brown chicken and shallots in bacon and butter fat. Half way through add garlic and add salt and pepper.
• Add chicken stock, wine, herbs, vinegar, carrots and potatoes. Add the bacon back to Potjie.
• Cover and simmer for 45 minutes until chicken is tender and cooked through.
• Remove solids from Potjie.
• Add mushrooms to remaining liquid, boil quickly and reduce liquid by 3/4 until it becomes a nice thick sauce.
• Reduce heat and return solids to Potjie.
• Reheat solids and coat with sauce.v
• Garnish with parsley and serve.
• Serve with mashed potatoes or a fresh French baguette and a nice Pinot Noir wine.

Thanks Stu!

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Thanks for the recipe – everyone enjoyed it! – Caleb

Flat-bottomed Potjie No: 4 Pot guide
Serves: 6
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
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Ingredients

DOUGH
110 g salted butter
500 ml cake flour
10 ml baking powder
70 ml full cream milk
2 jumbo eggs
Apricot jam
2 ml salt

SYRUP
30 g salted butter
380 ml water (boiling)
260 ml white sugar

Method

DOUGH
TIP: You can create the dough yourself, or buy it ready-made from your local supermarket if you’re pressed for time.

• Combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt, then rub small pieces of the butter lightly into the dry ingredients.
• Whisk the full cream milk and jumbo eggs together, add to the dry mixture, then mix to make a dough.
• Keep the dough in the fridge for half an hour, then roll it out to a thickness of about half a centimetre all over.
• Spread the rolled-out dough lightly with smooth apricot jam.

SYRUP
You first need to create the syrup in your potjie pot, into which you will place the rolled-up dough

• Add the sugar and the boiling water to the potjie pot and stir over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved.
• Simmer on a low heat for 2 – 3 minutes before stirring in the 30g of butter.

FINISHING TOUCHES

• Roll up the dough (spread with jam) and place it gently and carefully into the lightly simmering syrup in the potjie pot.
• Cover with the lid of the potjie and let the dough simmer slowly for about 30 minutes or until it is ready.
• Serve with custard and enjoy.

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Potjie No: 4 Pot guide
Serves: 6
Cooking Time: 2 hours
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Ingredients

1 kg bolo, shin or neck
15 ml cooking oil
5 ml salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 clove garlic (crushed)
2 onions (coarsely chopped)
3 carrots (sliced)
300 g cauliflower florets
4 baby marrows (sliced)
15 ml brown sugar
100 ml orange juice
125 ml grated cheddar cheese

Method

• Cube or slice meat.
• Heat oil in potjie and brown meat, then season with salt and pepper.
• Add garlic and onion and saute until onion is transparent.
• Add vegetables, brown sugar and orange juice.
• Cover and simmer for 1.5-2 hours or until meat is tender.
• Just before serving, sprinkle with grated cheese.
• Serve with baked potatoes.

The post Beef and Vegetable Potjie first appeared on Potjiekosworld.

My husband and I had a Potjie Competition past weekend, we took 1st place out of 4 pots…We adjusted the ingredients a bit to our preferences. Overall a very nice pot.. – Twana

Potjie No: 3 Pot guide
Serves: 6
Cooking Time: 2 hours
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Ingredients

15ml cake flour
5ml mixed herbs
5ml paprika
375ml beer
1kg beef fillet, cubed
250ml beef stock
15ml butter
1 packet of tomato soup powder
15ml oil
1 bay leaf
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
15ml vinegar
15ml white sugar
10ml Maizena
8 green beans, cut up
Salt and pepper to taste
4 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, chopped

Method

• Coat the meat with a mixture of the flour and paprika.
• Heat the oil and butter in the pot and brown the meat.
• Remove the meat and brown the onions and sugar until the onions is nice and soft.
• Add the beans, carrots and garlic, cover with the lid and allow the pot to simmer for about 5 minutes.
• Replace the meat and stir in the herbs, beer, beef stock, soup powder and bay leaf.
• Cover with the lid and allow the pot to simmer for a final hour or until the meat is soft (stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon).
• Mix the vinegar and cornflour and stir in.
• Simmer until the gravy has thickened and season with salt and pepper.

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